I VAMPIRI (1956) - Review

I Vampiri

Horror
1 hour and 18 minutes
Not Rated

Written by: Piero Regnoli, Rijk Sijöstrom, and Riccardo Freda
Directed by: Riccardo Freda
Produced by: Luigi Carpentieri & Ermanno Donati

Cast:
Gianna Maria Canale
Carlo D'Angelo
Dario Michaelis
Wandisa Guida
Paul Müller

Beautiful Parisian girls were his victims!

Here we have one of the greatest examples of Italian cinema to come out of the boom filmmakers were producing in that nation post World War II. During the fascist reign of Mussolini, Italian filmmakers were limited on the kind of films they were allowed to produce. As was the case in Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy was only interested in films that would depict "Il Duce" and the fascist state of Italy in a positive light. Obviously, horror films had no place under this agenda. Once Mussolini was overthrown, however, it was the brilliant auteur filmmaker Riccardo Freda that would bring about the first Italian-made horror film of the talking-pictures: I Vampiri.

Without I Vampiri, beautifully made Italian horror films of the later decades such as Suspiria, The Beyond, Cannibal Holocaust, and Blood and Black Lace may not have come about. I Vampiri therefore remains one of the most seminal and important horror films and has earned a respected spot in the annals of film history.

The story itself is not unique. Freda perhaps knew this and given that this was a total experiment (the first Italian horror film) he most likely wanted to cash in on other ideas being explored by low-budget American-made horror films. The film focuses on setting the ideas of vampirism in a modern-day context. You won't see Dracula in films like I Vampiri, Nightmare Castle, or Atom Age Vampire, but rather mad scientists chasing the idea that eternal youth can be obtained through copious amounts of fatal blood transfusions.

There is much argument as to who actually directed I Vampiri. Riccardo Freda is often credited, and indeed he played a major part in writing the film's screenplay. But there are also those who claim that the credit belongs to the film's director of photography: Mario Bava. The story goes that Freda became enormously frustrated with the film's limited shooting schedule and stormed off set, allowing Bava to step in and finish production. Bava, like Freda, would later become one of Italian cinema's most prolific auteurs, and would be given the handle, "The Godfather of Italian Horror." Because Bava and Freda were both auteurs with their individual styles it's easy to tell who I Vampiri really belongs to. With big, baroque set pieces, Gothic lighting, mad scientists laboratories adorned with "modern" technology - I Vampiri is unquestionably a Mario Bava film through and through.

Many of the elements in I Vampiri seem to be where Bava cut his teeth (quite effectively, I might add) before comfortably adding them to his later films. I Vampiri showcases a Gothic castle (something that appears in nearly every Mario Bava film) that has a secret passageway behind a fireplace leading to the castle's tomb. This exact castle/tomb passageway is again showcased in Bava's film Black Sunday. Also in both Black Sunday and I Vampiri are Bava's unique talent for makeup effects. In I Vampiri a young, beautiful woman is transformed in one single take into an old, hideous hag. The effect is so stunning and frightening, one can't help but wonder how Bava pulled it off.

The set pieces are beautifully photographed. Bava was a fan of wide shots, which allow the castles, tombs, and laboratories to become the film's main stars. The actors within these set pieces appear small, adding to the claustrophobia and discomforting atmosphere Bava knows how to handle so perfectly well.

While it isn't perhaps a stand-out, or unique motion-picture, I Vampiri remains vastly important for being the spark that ignited the explosion of Italian-made horror films that would flow from the 1960s until the mid to late 1980s. It showcases the supreme talent of Mario Bava, without really even giving Bava the credit (perhaps a good thing for Bava considering the film was a disaster upon its release).

With shocking special makeup effects, gorgeous cinematography, and stunning giant Gothic set pieces, I Vampiri remains one of the more important films in the long discussion of cinematic history - and a fine example of the talent within Mario Bava, "The Godfather of Italian Horror".

10/10

BODY COUNT (1986) - Review

Body Count

Horror
1 hour and 23 minutes
Rated: R

Written by: Alessandro Capone, Luca D'Alisera, Sheila Goldberg, and Dardano Sacchetti
Directed by: Ruggero Deodato
Produced by: Alessandro Fracassi

Cast:
Charles Napier
David Hess
Bruce Penhall
Mimsy Farmer

The woods are alive with the sound of screaming.

The 1980s saw a slew of backwoods slasher films being thrown at the horror-loving audiences of America. Indeed, the genre had been around prior to this specific decade - Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Mario Bava's A Bay of Blood both come to mind - but it wasn't until Friday the 13th became a cultural and cinematic phenomenon in 1980 that the subgenre of backwoods slasher flicks became extremely popular, with many being released directly to the brand new VHS market. Such was the case with Ruggero Deodato's entry into the subgenre: Body Count.

After the major financial success of Cannibal Holocaust and the cult following of House on the Edge of the Park it's no surprise that Deodato was given the reins to the mega-budget, ultra-violent, jungle adventure/thriller Cut and Run. Unfortunately, Cut and Run didn't fare as popular as its predecessors and Deodato's name never reached the iconic status it should have. Following Cut and Run, Deodato was given Body Count - a decent enough entry into a subgenre that by 1986 was already beginning to fade from the hearts and minds of most American horror fans. Hence, its only being released in America on VHS.

Body Count is by no means the greatest slasher film ever made, but it is certainly not the weakest one either. The film follows a genuinely interesting premise, combining both the ideas of the supernatural and the typical giallo idea that the killer, in the end, is merely one of the main characters who at some point in the past witnessed a psychologically damaging event that caused them to snap.

Even with a solid story Body Count's script is problematic. Of course with any made-for-American-market-Italian-made films there's going to be a few dialogue issues - these are both understandable and forgivable. Where this script suffers though is that it consists almost entirely of slasher movie clichés. Women are running and falling in the woods every single time they're being chased by a killer. The police characters are more of a nuisance than believable authority figures, and when they do finally save the day it feels more of a "cop out" than anything else and one can't help but wonder would the conclusion have been more satisfying if the killer were unmasked and killed by one of the main protagonists. These script issues are undoubtedly the direct result of having too many writers attached to the project. Shockingly, Dardano Sacchetti - the man behind many successful films for both Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento - had a hand in this film. Again, Body Count is not a bad film, but it is certainly below the status quo of both Sacchetti and Deodato.

The film's soundtrack is truly outstanding. Goblin's Claudio Simonetti, who had previously worked with Deodato on Cut and Run and is most famous for his scoring of Argento's Suspiria and George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, provides a terrifically frightening synthesizer-based soundtrack that is reminiscent of John Carpenter's score in Halloween. After the techno-80s-synth disaster of Cut and Run, it's most likely that Deodato told Simonetti to dial it back some for Body Count. Whatever the reason, less is more here and Simonetti did a fantastic job with it.

The performances in Body Count are a mixed bag at best. The veteran performers are a wonder to watch, while the unknown teenage cast give reason for the audience to ultimately cheer at their numbers being dwindled. Bruce Penhall is a good exception to this, however, he clearly isn't a strong actor. He simply plays a macho, dirt-bike-riding, teenager that seems to be second nature for him. Charles Napier is fantastic as the sheriff, but he isn't given enough screen time and his heroic contributions to the film's climax feel rather dull. John Steiner and Ivan Rassimov, two Deodato regulars, are fun to watch - but their scenes feel unnecessary and second nature. Almost as if Deodato called them up on a favor to play their parts and give the film a longer running time. Valentina Forte is given a cameo, but this is most likely due to her being romantically involved with Deodato at the time. She is murdered quickly in the story, and again the scene is rather unnecessary. David Hess is excellent, as always, as a psychotic campground owner. As Hess' wife, Mimsy Farmer is truly the standout performer. No stranger to the land of Italian horror, Farmer delivers all the goods and (other than Hess) gives the most believable performance. She's clearly more talented than this content could suggest, and it's rather a tragedy that she retired from acting after having completed Body Count.

With a relatively strong story, a moody atmospheric soundtrack by Claudio Simonetti, and a handful of cult actors delivering decent enough performances, Ruggero Deodato's Body Count remains a middle of the road film that perhaps doesn't deserve to be called the director's strongest piece of cinema, but still doesn't deserve to have faded so quickly into obscurity.

6.5/10